Mending the Broken
by Texascowgirl-13
Summary: Rewrite of Mending a Slayer's Broken Heart. Sango and Inuyasha, both leave Kaede's to get away from those who betrayed them, both broken warriors find their place and new love in the ruins of the slayer's village as they rebuild the village and their lives. However, its never that easy. Something is after them. An old foe? A new? Could it be both in one body? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: Hey yall! It sure has been a long time. As I have posted on my old story this is going to be the rewriting and upgrading of my story Mending a Slayer's Broken heart. It will go along the same story line but as you will find out from reading chapter 1 it is a lot more detailed and flushed out the story and characters much more. Anyway, first time readers enjoy and returning readers from MSBH I hope yall enjoy it. **

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Mending the Broken

Chapter 1 – The End is Only the Beginning

As evening fell over the small village nestled at the base of the mountains a lone woman sat within a hut on the edge of the village recalling memories of days passed. Just a week ago her wounds from the final battle with Naraku had stopped aching and she'd been able to return to her village to pay her respects to the dead once more. She had hardly been conscious when the boys left with her brother's body to put him to rest next to their father. Her broken arm and leg had taken over three months to heal and it shamed her that she hadn't been there to bury her brother. However, what was done could not be undone and she was content knowing that they had finally killed Naraku.

Kohaku had not been their only loss though. Her heart still ached when she visited Shippo's grave beneath the Goshinboku. It had shocked her that Kagome, who had been like a mother to the young fox demon, had shed no tears as they buried him in the pouring rain. She had merely clenched the now complete Shikon Jewel tightly in her fist and stared blankly at his small grave. Since then the young priestess had been acting strangely. She rarely smiled and she seemed consumed with the swirling shadows within the jewel. After a few weeks of her strange actions Sango had broken down and asked the priestess what she was looking at. Kagome had merely looked up at her and told her that the souls were warring again and she was waiting to see the outcome.

Shortly after that she seemed to go back to normal except that the priestess no longer held the optimistic attitude about the world that she used to. Sango assumed it was her own way of grieving for Shippo's death and that soon she would go back to normal but as time passed the two women in the group grew further apart. Neither of the men noticed but Kagome just wasn't the same anymore. She seemed to enjoy the stares and whistles of random village men whereas before she simply ignored them and the two girls would joke about how pathetic lustful men could be. Now Sango even caught her throwing lustful glances back at them. Before she could question the priestess on her actions or ask her why she had changed so much Kagome had left through the well saying simply that she'd "be back." None of them knew when she would be back and Inuyasha had raged about it for days but seeing as they had killed Naraku and the hunt was over he could not demand that she return. That had marked the end of the first month after the final battle.

Pausing in her recollection the woman stood and exited the hut. Staring out into Inuyasha's forest made her thoughts drift from her once close friend to the half-demon who she had grown close to. It saddened her that Inuyasha had not noticed the change in Kagome because he was so consumed with his own grief for Shippo. Perhaps if the young fox had not given his life to save him, Inuyasha would not have blamed himself so much. Of course the hanyou tried to put on a brave face in front of his friends. Kagome, as disconnected from her own emotions as she was, didn't notice that he was even more withdrawn and short-tempered than usual. Miroku was too caught up in helping Kaede with the village that he didn't have time to pay attention to his friends and was only in the hut to eat dinner and sleep. Sango though, who had nothing but time to watch and observe as her injuries healed, she could see the darkness in her friend's golden eyes. When Kagome left she had taken it upon herself to lend her hanyou friend emotional support. She would not leave him as the others had. It was the end of the second month, as she and Inuyasha grew closer, that she realized that Kagome had never been able to truly understand him; only the broken could heal the broken.

The memories of the third and final month of her healing, both physical and emotional, had been the hardest for both her and Inuyasha. The two warriors had shared the things that haunted them the most one night over a dwindling fire on the night of the new moon. Things that they had never told anyone else they shared with the trust of their warrior's bond that neither would ever use those secrets against them. He told her about his mother and she told him about hers, they spoke of their fathers and their brothers but it wasn't until he spoke of Shippo that she saw him shed a tear. He told her that after the young fox and thrown his body in front of Naraku's tentacle to save him, as he lay dying in Inuyasha's arms, that Shippo had told him that he loved him like a father but he was going to join his real parents now. After that the tears fell from his now dark human eyes in rivulets and he turned away from her. She had stood slowly due to the stiffness caused by her injury and wrapped her arms around her friend for the first time. As they cried together over the loss of their friend a bond was formed that brought them closer than they had been in the whole two years they had traveled as a team.

Now, a week into the fourth month after the battle with Naraku, her injuries were healed and she was waiting for her friends to return so that she could begin cooking supper. Miroku had said he was going for water to boil hours ago and since she could not start the stew without it she decided to go search for him. The sun was beginning to set as she wandered through the village streets in search of her fiancé. Her talks with Inuyasha had enlightened her on many things the monk had done that freed her from her obligation to marry him but she still held some sort of love for him that she wasn't quite willing to let go of yet. In the last three months the monk had been the perfect gentleman and had been an integral part in helping Kaede with the injured villagers. That had earned him some kind of trust from her and now that she was recovered she decided it was time to talk about where their relationship was headed.

After walking around the village once she decided to head back to Kaede's hut and see if the monk had finally returned with the water. Cutting through a narrow alley between two large huts she passed by a window with thin stream of candlelight leaking into the bleak alley. As the passed the window she heard moaning and quickened her pace to avoid eavesdropping when a female voice cried out.

"Oh Miroku of course I'll bear your children."

The name the woman moaned froze her in her tracks. Inuyasha had told her that the monk had come back to the hut stinking of other women in ways that were "dishonorable" as he'd put it, but her mind had not accepted it as reality until that very moment. As much as her mind was screaming at her to run away, not to look, her body refused to listen. Slowly her body turned and she peered through the opening in the cloth that covered the window to see her supposed fiancé lying naked with some unknown village woman. As Miroku moved toward the woman who was more than willing to "bear his children" she could not bear to watch and without another thought she ran.

Weaving through streets and alleys that she had come to know from her extended time in Kaede's village the slayer did not even care that her eyes were dripping with tears. She wasn't even entirely sure where she was going until she ran into something hard in a dark alley on the back edge of the village and fell to the ground. Looking up she saw one of the drifters that had come into the village a few weeks prior and his band of thugs. Thus far they had not done anything for Inuyasha to kick them out of the village but they had been causing trouble and she had a sneaking suspicion that she would be the one to deal with them.

"Well, well if it isn't the little princess slayer. Where's your half-demon bodyguard?"

The fierce glare she sent him was lost in the darkness but her sharp eyes didn't miss the way the four other men were attempting to circle around behind her. Her hand settled onto the hilt of her wakizashi that she had strapped into her obi and she prepared herself for a nice stress relief. The tears were still streaming down her face and she hadn't been able to fight in over three months but she was more than ready to take down these men if they tried what they were planning.

"What's wrong princess? Nothing to say without your demon to protect you."

As he started walking towards her she took a deep breath and stuck. Whipping out her wakizashi she swiped the short sword toward him and stopped just short of his throat. The thug froze mid step and put his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, whoa princess hold on now. There's no problem here. Right fellas?"

At that the four men around her struck. Two pulled out daggers while the other two circled around to try to grab her from behind. Lightly jumping forward toward the leader she slammed the hilt of her sword into his face knocking him unconscious immediately. Swinging her sword around in a circle she disarmed two of the thugs. The last two she struck with a powerful kick that knocked one into the other and sent them both crashing into the wall. The two that remained standing were backing away with their hands raised in submission.

"Now I want you to leave this village. Take your pathetic friends and never return or next time I will not be so merciful."

Her voice was hard as stone and sharp as a blade. The thugs scrambled to gather their friends and then ran away down the alley like scared rats. As soon as they were gone she allowed her mask of calm to crack and she sank to the ground with her back to the hut behind her. Images of Miroku lying with the naked woman were haunting her and flashing before her eyes. Sobs wracked her body as she pulled her knees to her chest. In her grief she didn't hear the voices approaching the alley she was in until they were nearly upon her.

Looking up she saw a figure dressed in purple and black robes and another figure dressed in what could hardly be considered a kimono. The female was stumbling as if drunk while the male held a firm grip on her hips.

"Miroku why don't you just stay the night in my hut? I'll make it worth your while."

"I can't sweet one though the offer is very tempting. I told someone I would be back tonight and I am already very late."

She already knew from the robes who the couple was but she didn't think her night could have possibly gotten any worse than it already was. Apparently she was wrong. Standing without a word she turned to make her way out the other end of the alley when his voice called out to address her.

"Stop! Who are you to be walking the streets so late at night?"

That froze her in her steps. Who was she to him? Standing with her back to him and her head hung low in sadness she wasn't sure. She did know one thing though, she wasn't his fiancé anymore nor would she be ever again.

"No one…," she said in a voice just above a whisper.

With that she vanished into the night so quickly that the monk questioned if she was even there. For a moment he thought that it had been Sango but he knew she wouldn't be out so late by herself. Besides, he had a woman with him that he needed to take care of. He'd think of Sango when he returned to Kaede's.

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By the time she returned to Kaede's hut the old woman was already asleep. The slayer slipped into the hut without a sound and gathered her things. She quickly donned her slayer's suit and tucked her kimono into a "satchel" bag that Kagome had given her once during their travels. Tears still rolled down her face but she was no longer sobbing. Her expression was now completely blank and the only sign of sadness was the stream of salty tears that continued to fall against her will. Kirara mewed quietly in question as her mistress scooped her up and exited the hut in full slaying gear with Hiraikotsu on her back.

"Let's go home Kirara. I can't stay here anymore. Not now, not with him…"

Without question her tiny companion leapt from her arms and transformed into her large fire cat form. Climbing on her back she urged her companion onwards never giving thought to what Inuyasha would think upon his return from Kagome's time or what he would say about her running away from her problems. The only thing she could think of at that moment was getting as far away from the cheating monk as she could and building a new life even if it meant completely abandoning her old one.

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**a/n: And there you have it. The first chapter of my newly rewritten old story. I hope yall like it, I know it's been like 2 years but I've finally gotten around to it. This time I've got a plan and hopefully I've got the time. **

**READ AND REVIEW! **


	2. Truth Beyond the Well

**a/n: Hey yall! Sorry for the wait but I work alot... Waitressing you know. ;P Anyway this chapter's from Inuyasha's POV. I took the criticism from the first time I wrote the story and tried to tone down on Inuyasha being so emotional. You'll have to review and let me know how I did. ;D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha... but maybe someday... **

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Mending the Broken

Chapter 2- Truth Beyond the Well

The sun was beginning to set on the first day of the fourth month since the final battle with Naraku and a certain silver haired hanyou was finally coming to the limit of his patience. Kagome had been gone for two months and it was time that she came back to him. He had needed time to himself to deal with Shippo's death and he assumed that's what Kagome was still doing in her time which is why he had not gone there to get her back before now. However, enough was enough. He had come to terms with Shippo's death, with Sango's help, and surely Kagome had been given enough time to grieve.

As he leapt from tree to tree on his way to the Bone Eater's well his thoughts flew over his experiences in the last few months. The loss of Shippo had hit him hard. It was only the combined grief of hiss loss of Shippo and Sango's loss of Kohaku that had allowed the two warriors to overcome their injuries and put an end to Naraku at last. Miroku and Kagome had been sad because of their losses but neither could understand true grief like he and Sango could. He could still remember collapsing onto the rain soaked ground after Naraku had been defeated and as he lay there with his consciousness fading the last thing he saw was Sango's bleeding and broken form desperately crawling toward the lifeless body of her younger brother, the one he had sworn to get back for her. Her sobs had been the last thing he heard before he woke up bound in bandages in Kaede's hut.

It had taken him two months to work up the courage to tell Sango that he was sorry for not keeping his promise to her and when he finally did on the night of the new moon she had slapped him and told him not to be stupid, that no one could have saved him. She had even thanked him for taking Kohaku's body back to the slayer's village and burying him next to her father when she had been unable to do so herself. He had to admit that if it wasn't for Sango being there for him in his time of grieving that he wasn't sure where he would be now.

As he landed lightly on the ground in front of the Bone Eater's well he paused for a moment. Sango really had been the only one there for him; Kagome had left him to go back to her time and Miroku had been too busy sweet talking the village girls. Did he really need Kagome to come back after all? His mind told him no but his heart urged him forward. Despite Kagome not being there for him his heart told him that he still loved her and that she had just needed time to grieve herself. Assuring himself that that was the truth he leapt into the well and fell lightly into the future.

The strange smells of her time hit him hard as soon as he landed in the soft dirt. It had been quite some time since he had traveled through the well and what Kagome called "pollution" still made his stomach churn. Leaping up and out of the well he could tell by the shadows that the sun was setting here as well. He thought about turning back and allowing her one more night in her time but decided he could at least tell her that this was her last night before he was going to drag her back himself. Shutting the door of the small house built to protect the well behind him he looked up and saw a dim light from the small lamp she kept on her desk was on so he guessed she was in her room studying like she used to do for her strange "tests." Jumping up to the tree next to her room he was about to slide the window open when he heard moaning. It was then that the scent of pheromones hit his nose and the smell of humans pre-mating ritual washed over him like a wave of miasma. His mind was swimming with the scent and he could not stop his body from moving to look into the window until it was too late.

The sight of the second woman he loved rutting with a skinny human male was like a katana to the heart. Both humans had scarce amounts of clothing on but the hanyou could smell the want and lust coming from both of them as well as see the male's reaction to their activities. An old wound was ripped open inside him and he half fell half jumped from the tree to get away from the sight and the scent of her betrayal. In his rush back to the well he did not see Mrs. Higurashi standing at her front door nor did he hear her as she called out to him asking what was wrong he merely flew to the well and jumped in without pausing in stride.

As soon as his feet hit dirt in the Feudal Era he jumped from the well and started sprinting off into the woods. No tears fell from his eyes but the wound within him felt as if someone was slicing at it with a flaming sword. For a brief moment he thought about going back to Kaede's but he needed to be alone to sort out where he was going to go with his life without Kagome in it and so he veered north west and headed into the forest at a dead sprint. He didn't care that darkness had fallen or that there was a storm sweeping in from the north and bearing down upon him. The only thing on his mind was getting as far away from the priestess that had broken his heart as he possibly could.

~~~~~~~~~ 4 hours later ~~~~~~~~~~

The storm was fully upon him now. Trees with branches big enough to support his weight were becoming scarce and in the torrential rain it was becoming hard for even his half demon senses to make out where he was going so he jumped down to the ground and continued forward on foot. The rain seemed fitting to him as he made his way through the storm. This was not the kind of soft, sad rain that had fallen on the day of Shippo's funeral. This rain was hard and strong, stinging his skin as it threatened to push him down. The lightning flashing above shot light through the darkness like the anger building within him was lighting up the darkness in his soul.

He didn't need that whiney priestess in his life, he was fine before her and he would be fine now that she was gone from his life as well. He was a warrior and the only thing he needed was his trusty Tetsaiga that was currently slapping against his wet haori leg and he ran through the night. He had no friends anymore and he told himself he would do better without them anyway. It was then that an image of Sango flashed though his mind and a spark of guilt began to grow within him. It wasn't true that he no longer had friends, Sango was still there for him and he had left her alone in Kaede's village with the cheating monk without so much as a goodbye. He thought about turning back as he made his way across a small clearing but his thoughts were interrupted when a dark figure slammed into him and both were sent spinning off in different directions. Without thinking he drew Tetsaiga and the small scratched blade transformed into a huge fang just in time to block the huge bone boomerang that was sent flying his way from the dark figure. It took him less than a second to recognize the Hiraikotsu but a tad longer to register that the figure he'd just slammed into was actually Sango.

"Sango?"

As Hiraikotsu returned to its master the slayer spun and caught it with ease despite the rain soaked ground that was quickly turning into a muddy mess. Sango paused for a moment and pushed her drenched bangs out of her face to try to get a better look at him through the blackness of the night and the storm.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing all the way out here?"

The question reminded him that they were indeed deep within an unknown forest in the middle of the night far away from Kaede's village where she was supposed to be sleeping safe beside a campfire like he'd imagined when he remembered that he had left her.

"I could ask you the same question Sango. I thought you were at Kaede's long asleep by now."

At that he noticed her body sag and her head drop as she avoided his eyes. He just knew that the stupid monk had done something to hurt her again. Why else would she be all the way out her in the middle of the night?

"Miroku… Let's just say that he found someone willing to give him what I wasn't…"

With that she trailed off and turned and started to walk in the direction that he had been heading before pausing with her back turned towards him. He knew that she was crying and he knew she didn't want him to know.

"Why are you all the way out here Inuyasha? I thought you were going to get Kagome."

Her name sent a shot of sadness through him but he mentally pushed it aside and reminded himself that he didn't need her anymore.

"Kagome found herself a new mate in her own time…" he paused for a moment to keep the emotion in his voice in check, "Feh. Like I need her anyway, I'm fine on my own."

At that Sango turned back to him her eyes wide in astonishment. After a moment of her looking him over he began to feel like his slayer friend could see right through him. He wished she would stop looking at him like that but upon taking a glance at her eyes he could tell she was feeling the same thing he was.

"You caught her in the act didn't you Inuyasha?"

It was not a question really but a statement of a fact that she knew to be true so he didn't answer just continued to stare at her through the rain. She shook her head and then sank to a crouch with the palm of her hand to her forehead. Perched on the balls of her feet she was only a few inches from the ever-thickening mud and he worried that she was going to break down right there in the middle of the forest.

"What have we become Inuyasha? What happened to our group?"

It was a question that he wished he knew the answer to. He wished he could understand why Miroku could never be satisfied with just Sango, he wished he knew why Shippo had to die in order for them to win their battle with Naraku, and he wished he knew why Kagome would betray him the way she had but he didn't. The only thing he did know was that everything changed after the final battle.

"It died with Shippo Sango."

That was the only way he could explain it. He would liked to have phrased it better, for her sake, but he couldn't. He hated to see how this was hurting her. He knew that their group had been like a second family to her and now it was like she had lost her family all over again.

"Sango…"

"Come with me Inuyasha."

"What?"

Her statement had surprised him. He thought that he would have to console her and then carry her back to Kaede's like he had done Kikyou when she would bear her soul to him in the middle of the forest. Then he remembered that this was Sango and she was stronger than either of the two priestesses that he had loved.

"I said come with me Inuyasha. I am returning to my village to rebuild and return the slayer's legacy to its former glory. You could stay as long as you wished and you would be free to leave at any time. That way neither of us would be alone…"

As she trialed off he was reminded that she was returning to her empty village not only to rebuild but also to attend to the graves of her father and the young boy that he had promised to bring back to her and failed to. Any thoughts of refusing her offer left him as he thought of her being alone to grieve in her ruined village. She had been there for him in his time of grief and thus he would be there until she told him to leave.

"Okay Sango I'll help you rebuild your village. Plus, I could really use a good battle right now so the next demon we face is mine ok?"

With a smile and a laugh she accepted his terms and then walked straight up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Her warmth spread through him and the wound in his chest seemed to heal slightly.

"Thank you Inuyasha for being there for me."

Slowly he brought his arms up and wrapped them around her and held her to him for a second before she backed away slightly. She looked around them at the rain that was still drenching the forest; the storm's ferocity seeming to have eased though it showed no signs of letting up soon. When she turned back to him she now looked determined whereas before she had only looked lost.

"There's a cave not too far from here that the slayer's used to use as an emergency store house Inuyasha. We can stay there until the storm passes and then head to the village tomorrow. Sound ok with you?"

He merely nodded and watched as she motioned for Kirara to transform; to be honest he'd completely forgotten about the tiny neko as he and Sango had talked in the rain. He was glad she was here though because Sango looked absolutely exhausted and he was very tired from his long run as well. As he slid onto Kirara's back behind Sango he couldn't help but feel relieved that he wouldn't have to be alone after all.

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**a/n: Well there yall go. Chapter 2 and the two warriors are together heading for Sango's village to start a new life without Miroku and Kagome... Read and Review if you want to know what's to come! Reviews are what motivate me to write after a long day of work! **

** Texascowgirl-13**


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